Recipe by Florence Blair
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 large courgettes (approx 500g)
1 unwaxed lemon
1 red chilli
100g butter
2 tbsp olive oil
50g pistachios
350g gigli
Method
Coarsely grate the courgettes using a box grater. Transfer the grated courgette to a clean tea towel and squeeze out as much liquid as possible over the sink.
Grate the zest of the lemon. Thinly slice roughly a third of the lemon, remove any seeds then chop these slices as finely as possible. Juice the remaining two thirds of the lemon. Set aside these three forms of lemon.
Put the olive oil and half of the butter in a large pot over a medium heat. Once the butter is foaming, add the grated courgette. Season with salt and pepper and fry for 2 minutes to soften.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until just shy of al dente.
As the pasta cooks, finely chop the chilli and roughly chop the pistachios. Add the chilli, lemon zest and chopped lemon to the softened courgette. Fry for a minute or two until fragrant.
Once the pasta is just shy of al dente, use a spider or slotted spoon to transfer to the pot of courgette. Add the remaining butter, the lemon juice and a couple of splashes of pasta water. Toss well and shimmy the pot to bring everything together, adding more pasta water to loosen if needed. Taste for seasoning then serve with the chopped pistachios scattered on top.
